Shannon Praises Grown-up Players

Defense Learned Lesson From '08 Loss

CORAL GABLES — Hurricanes cornerback Randy Phillips watched last year's game against Georgia Tech at home on television.

He was injured, but turned away before the conclusion.

"I actually turned the game at halftime," Phillips said. "I was so disgusted."

If Phillips were home for Thursday's rematch, he would've watched the whole game. The Hurricanes were a different team in defeating the Yellow Jackets 33-17 at Land Shark Stadium. After allowing 472 rushing yards in last year's loss, UM gave up 95 against Georgia Tech's triple option.

UM coach Randy Shannon said the difference had nothing to do with scheme or new defensive coordinator John Lovett. It was a case of young players growing up.

"You look at the guys now, they're a lot older," Shannon said. "Last year they ran upfield, were taking too many chances."

Last year Shannon gave the same warnings of facing the triple option. He preached "assignment football," and advised players to trust their teammates. The Hurricanes finally applied it, and it equated into the biggest victory in Shannon's three-year tenure.

"They learned their lesson," Shannon said. "It's like a kid. They screw up, you say stop and they don't. You hit them on the hand and they stop. That's basically what it was in that type of game."

The Hurricanes slowed an offense that led the Atlantic Coast Conference in rushing last year. Running back Jonathan Dwyer, the league's preseason Player of the Year, rushed five times for 7 yards before leaving with a shoulder injury at halftime.

"I think we, as an offense, should apologize to the Yellow Jacket Nation," Georgia Tech center Sean Bedford said. "We've been talking all year about how much better we're going to be as an offense, how we're going to execute and you haven't seen anything yet."

A lot of that had to do with the Hurricanes. Aside from a 45-yard drive on the opening possession, the Yellow Jackets weren't able to string together many successful plays. Shannon said Lovett deserves the credit for making the in-game adjustments.

"Coach Lovett did a great job with the defensive game plan," Shannon said. "It was big that he emphasized all week long that we had to get 11 guys on the football in some way or fashion."

Shandel Richardson can be reached at srichardson@SunSentinel.com

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

Jacory for Heisman?

Should Miami QB Jacory Harris be in the Heisman Trophy race?

* Yes, he's put up big numbers against two ranked teams.

* No, he's not as established as Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow.

* Not yet, but let's see if he continues to shine.

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